Island



l; SATS GEO. H. CORLISS AND ELISHA HARRIS, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODEl ISLAND.

FORGING THIIVIBLES.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 14,280, dated February 19, 1856.

ings, forming part of this specification, iny

. by which method which` Figures l and 2 are vertical sections taken j at right angles to each other through thev center of that part of the machine by which the form is given to the thimble. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the center of;

` placed in a suitably heated state upon the the box 'of one of the shafts.

Similar letters of reference indicate corf suitable distance between the successive opresponding parts in the several figures.

The main peculiarity of this machine consists in the employment of hammers or squeezers to act upon that side of the piece of iron which is to formv the interior of the thimble while that side of the piece which is to form the exterior is in contact with a stationary die or anvil.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention we will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A5 is a strong bed plate supported upon standards B, B, and carrying all the working` parts of the machine.

O, is a stationary anvil or die the lowest part of the upper side of which is in the form of a segment of the intended figure of the exterior of the thimble as is illustrated in Figs. l and 2, where the anvil is shown in section and apartly formed thimble is shown tinted of a bright red color. In front of this segment formed portion, the anvil rises in the form of an incline plane which is tangential to the segment, as shown in Fig. 2.

C, C, are two shafts arranged to rotate in boxes D, D, on opposite sides of, at equal distances from, and a little higher than the anvil, as will be understood by reference to Fig. l, the said shafts being geared together by a pair of spur gears cl, d, to rotate 1n o pposite directions. At the front extremities of these shafts are two solid eccentrics E, E, which are fitted to the two stocks F, F, to which are secured two hammers or as we prefer to term them squeezers a, a, which are intended to act upon the upper side of the piece of iron and to give the form to the interior of the thimble. The faces of these squeezers are each of the form of a segment of one half of the figure of the interior of the thimble. They are arranged to work at an angle of about 120o to each other and at about 300 to the axis of the thimble. The stocks F, F, do not work in fixed guides but are merely connected at their lower ends with the upper arms Z), b, of two elbow levers Z) b b, working on fixed pivots y', j,

of guiding them the squeezers are caused to have a peculiar action on the iron which we will presently proceed to explain. The piece of iron of which the thimble is formed consists of a piece of v fiat bar iron of uniform thickness, and is inclined plane of the anvil and fed down a erations of the hammers or squeezers by of the arrows shown upon them in Fig. l

bring both the squeezers simultaneously into operation on the iron, and at that point in their revolution when they approach the nearest to the anvil-which point is illustrated in Fig. l-they bring the squeezers close together upon the top of the iron as shown in Fig. 1. Up to thisA point in the revolutions of the eccentrics the action of the squeezers is mainly that of bending the iron over the anvil, and there is only a slight squeezing action, but the revolution of the eccentrics beyond this point moves the squeezers apart and drags them down over the face of the iron forcing the lower parts of their faces toward the anvil and producing both a drawing and squeezing ac'- tion on the iron at the same time and thus bringing the section of the iron to the crescent vform necessary for the section of the thimble. The iron being fed down onvthe anvil after the successive operations of the squeezers gradually curls up and when the whole length of it has been submittedto the action of the squeezers it has assumed the form of a complete ring.

It may be well here to observe that it is not absoluteiy necessary for the anvil to have the form of a segment of the external figure of the thimble, but it may .be nearly straight longitudinally provided it has the proper transverse sectional form, as if the squeezers have the proper form the iron will curl up and the ring will be produced in giving the transverse sectional form to the whole length of the iron.

The motion of the machine does not require to be stopped for the removal of the finished thimbles but the shafts D, D, rotate continuously one of them being furnished with a fly wheel H, to equalize the motion. In order to take out the thimbles the shafts have to be moved back lengthwise to draw the eccentrics out of the squeezer stocks F, F, and to effect this, they are fitted to be capable of sliding in their boxes D, D, and are both connected by a double fork I, with a sliding rod J, which is fitted in bearings e, e, under the bed plate A. This rod J, has pivoted to it at f, a. forked lever K, which during the formation of the thimble, hangs freely some distance in front of the elbow levers b, b, but which when the thimble is finished is taken hold of by the only attendant required to work the machine, who with it pushes the rod J, backward far enough to slide the eccentrics out of the squeezer stocks. This brings the point g, g, of the fork of the lever under the lower arms b', b, of the elbow levers Z1 b', b b. The upper parts of thc squeezer stocks F, F, when the eccentrics are withdrawn, rest on two stationary inclined guides 7L, 71 in front of the boxes D, D, and up these guides the said stocks are caused to slide by the attendant pushing down the end of the lever K, which he still holds. The depression of that end of the said lever causes the points g, g, of the said lever to raise the elbow levers which push up the stocks. The squeezers being by this means moved far enough out of the way, enables the thimble to be taken from the anvil by a hook, a pair of tongs or other suitable implement. When this is done, the attendant raises the front end of the lever K, and the squeezer stocks will slide down the guides z., L, to a position to receive the eccentrics, and he then pulls the lever and draws forward the rod J, thus drawing forward the shafts and causing the eccentrics toenter the stocks F, F, again. In order to enable the eccentrics to slide easily into the stocks, their front faces are chamfered o2 to concentric circles as shown at z', z', Figs. l and 3, by whch means they are enabled to enter at any point in their revolution. The machine may also be employed for making welded thimbles. To make those thimbles a welded ring should be first formed of flat iron and then submitted to the action of the machine.

l/Vhat we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The employment for forging thimbles, of an anvil, O, and hammers, (a), (a), operating substantially as herein set forth.

2. In combination with the arrangement of the shaft-s of the eccentrics to slide the eccentrics out of the stocks F, F, which carry the hammers or squeezers, we claim the inclined guides fait, to receive the said stocks after the withdrawal of the eccentrics, and the levers b b, and K, for the movement of the stocks up the said guides to withdraw the hammers or squeezers from the interior of the thimble to admit of its removal from the machine, all arranged operating substantially as herein set forth.

GEO. H. CORLISS. ELISHA HARRIS.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. TOBEY, CI-IAS. V. WARE. 

